Imparts a thirst for destruction, inflicting Berserk on a distant unit.

The Ivalice Chronicles' description

Fervor, also known as Blind Rage, is a Mystic Arts ability in Final Fantasy Tactics, learned by the mystic job. It charges a spell that attempts to inflict the Berserk status to a single distant unit, making them lose control and only use the Attack command on their enemies. The action ability must be learned by expending JP earned for the mystic job.

Other abilities that inflict Berserk include the orator's Insult. The templar has access to abilities equal to the mystic's spells, but as instant casts that only target one unit; Fervor's equivalent being Berserk.

Certain enemy abilities, namely the mindflayer's Mind Blast and Level Drain, as well Grand Cross cast by Ultima, inflict the Berserk status.

Obtained[]

Fervor costs 400 JP to be spent on the mystic job. Once the unit has learned it, it is available for other jobs as long as they have the Mystic Arts or Arithmeticks skillset equipped.

If a unit that knows Fervor becomes a crystal, a human unit picking up the crystal may learn Fervor without spending JP, as long as said unit has unlocked the mystic job.

Mechanics[]

Reason with confusion, judge with recklessness... Brave Insanity!

Upon casting

Fervor costs 16 MP with a charge time of 20 speed and can only affect one unit at a time. Magick has a chance to hit based on the caster's faith and the target's faith. Fervor's chance of success is based on the following formula:

This means that the higher both the caster and the target's faith stats, the higher the chances of the Fervor spell to take effect.

A unit with Berserk has their effective physical attack increased by 50%, but cannot be controlled and instead attacks nearby enemies with their basic Attack command, usually from the front, forgoing back-attacks. They cannot use their reaction abilities, Beastmaster, nor certain movement abilities, such as the monk's Lifefont. Berserk is one of the few status effects that last the entire battle, unless cured.

The unit can still attempt to cast magick even without the required MP, but it will fail upon activating.

Fervor can be reflected, and will be nullified against a unit with zero faith or under the Atheist status; however, the status effect will still persist if the unit was inflicted with Berserk before becoming affected by Atheist, or having their faith reduced to zero. Fervor can be cast instantly by the arithmetician job command, Arithmeticks, and works with Magick Counter as long as the Berserk effect did not take effect, as berserked units cannot use magicks.

The effect can be removed by certain abilities, namely the white mage's Esuna, the monk's Purification, and the dragonkin's Dragon's Gift (which only affects monsters from the dragon and hydra families). It can be prevented by wearing certain equipment like the magick ring or the ribbon.

Use[]

Fervor can be effective when used against units with low attack, such as black mages, forcing them to use normal attacks, being an alternative to Quiescence. The Berserk effect can be combined with other powerful abilities from the mystic, such as Umbra to inflict the Blindness status, forcing a unit to mindlessly use the attack command with reduced accuracy. If the player's own units have Shirahadori, they will effectively be safe from berserked enemies as well.

Fervor can also be cast on a player's own unit to increase their physical prowess, at the expense of losing control of the unit and reducing their defensive measures. Ninjas can often be useful under the effects of Berserk due to their naturally high physical attack as well physical evasion, especially when equipped with cloaks, which will still allow the unit to evade even while under Berserk. Other jobs useful under Berserk include archers, who can deal increased physical damage from safe distances.

Most boss enemies, such as the Lucavi, are immune to Berserk and a variety of other status ailments.

Behind the scenes[]

In the PlayStation version, a mystic casting Fervor may chant: "Reason with confusion, judge with recklessness... Brave Insanity!" Spellcasting chants are not used in The War of the Lions version, but return in The Ivalice Chronicles with new localization.